Rangers won an unlikely Scottish Premier League title on Sunday, beating Hibernian 1-0 while rival Celtic gave up two late goals to lose to Motherwell 2-1.
Celtic was leading 1-0 and had its second straight title nearly guaranteed with only two minutes remaining, but Scott McDonald scored in the 88th and 90th minutes to beat Celtic and hand the championship trophy to Rangers.
"I don't think it has sunk in yet," Rangers manager Alex McLeish said. ``It's a bit surprising in that it wasn't in our hands.''
PHOTO: AP
Chris Sutton gave Celtic the lead in the 29th minute, but with the match drawing to a close, McDonald beat Celtic goalkeeper Rob Douglas on the edge of the box with a swerving shot.
The 21-year-old then raced down the right flank before cutting back inside and shooting past Douglas for the winner.
"It's great in a way but it's hard for Celtic," McDonald said. "It must be terrible for them but it was all about us in the end.''
Celtic manager Martin O'Neill said the defeat matched the 2003 UEFA Cup final loss to Porto as his most disappointing moment.
"The UEFA Cup final was very hard to take, but I would say this was alongside that, if it doesn't surpass it," said O'Neill, who is reported on the verge of leaving the club.
"In many aspects, it has been a memorable season but the way it twisted at the end it wasn't to be," he added.
Rangers striker Nacho Novo scored in the 59th minute at Hibernian to lift the club over crosstown rival Celtic -- 93 points to 92.
In the only other match Sunday, Aberdeen topped Hearts 2-0.
Richie Byrne scored in the 45th and Derek Adams netted in the 49th but it was not enough to qualify for the UEFA Cup ahead of Hibernian, which advances on superior goal difference.
Diego Forlan scored three goals Sunday, and Villarreal earned a 3-3 draw against Spanish league champion FC Barcelona to move into third place.
The Uruguayan has scored 23 goals this season, one less than Barcelona's league-leading Samuel Eto'o, who missed a penalty in the 25th minute of the team's last home match of the season.
Villarreal will secure a debut in next season's Champions League if it wins its final game of the season against Levante next weekend.
Ludovic Giuly scored twice and Ronaldinho had the other goal for Barcelona, which was applauded at the Camp Nou by its opponent in honor of its title triumph last weekend.
Barcelona captain Carles Puyol was handed the team's first major trophy for six years by secretary of sport Jaime Lissavetsky.
Forlan gave Villarreal the lead in the 17th minute with a swerving shot from just outside the penalty area which flew past reserve goalkeeper Albert Jorquera, who was replacing the rested Victor Valdes.
In other games, Sevilla drew 0-0 with Getafe and suffered a blow to its hopes of a first place in the Champions League.
With one game remaining, Sevilla remained in fifth place and needs to win its final game of the season against Malaga next week to have any chance of reaching Europe's top club competition.
Barcelona has 83 points, five more than Real Madrid. Villarreal is next with 62 points, one more than Betis. And Sevilla is fifth with 60 points, two more than Espanyol.
Udinese and Sampdoria will play for Italy's fourth and final Champions League berth next week in the final round of the Serie A season.
Udinese was held to a 1-1 draw at Cagliari and Inter Milan beat Sampdoria 1-0 with Adriano's 16th goal of the season. Sampdoria hit the post or crossbar three times.
Udinese moved to 61 points, and Sampdoria remained with 60.
Next Sunday, Udinese concludes the season against AC Milan, while Sampdoria visits Bologna, which will be fighting to avoid relegation. If the teams finish tied, there will be a two-leg playoff June 14 and 18.
Milan is already assured of finishing in second place.
Atalanta became the first club mathematically relegated after it was beaten 1-0 at home by AS Roma on Antonio Cassano's ninth goal of the season. Roma, which qualified for next season's UEFA Cup by reaching the Italian Cup final earlier this week, is now saved from relegation.
Juventus, which clinched its record 28th Serie A title on Friday when Milan drew 3-3 with Palermo, drew 2-2 at Livorno behind goals from Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet.
Palermo, which is finishing its first season in the top division in 33 years, earned a berth in next season's UEFA Cup.
Nine clubs remained in danger of taking one of the two remaining relegation spots, with Fiorentina and Siena left in the most precarious positions with 39 and 40 points, respectively.
Benfica won the Portuguese league title for the first time in 11 years, drawing 1-1 at Boavista to finish the season three points ahead of second-place FC Porto.
Benfica striker Simao Sabrosa converted a penalty in the 38th minute, but Boavista defender Eder Silveira equalized four minutes later.
The Lisbon club finished the season with 65 points from 34 matches. Benfica can complete the double next week when it faces Setubal in the Portuguese Cup final.
Benfica coach Giovanni Trapattoni thanked the supporters.
"In 40 years of soccer I had never seen such a wonderful display of support as the one I saw today with Benfica's supporters," Trapattoni said.
Eintracht Frankfurt completed the list of second division teams to be promoted to the Bundesliga by beating Wacker Burghausen 3-0.
Frankfurt joined two other well-known clubs in Germany in regaining spots in the top league, MSV Duisburg and FC Cologne. They will replace VfL Bochum, Hansa Rostock and SC Freiburg.
Cologne won the second division title with a 4-0 victory over Duisburg. The club is led by 19-year-old Germany forward Lukas Podolski, the second division's top scorer.
The German Bundesliga enjoyed set an attendance record this season despite Bayern Munich's runaway title win and the league's lack of success in Europe.
The 18 first-division clubs drew 11,494,764 spectators to its league matches for the 2004-2005 season that ended Saturday, according to a survey by the German news agency DPA.
The average attendance for a game was 37,565, breaking last season's mark of 36,200. Borussia Dortmund was the top drawing team, pulling in an average of 77,353 for its 17 home matches in Germany's biggest stadium, the 83,000-seat Westfalenstadion.
Bayern Munich averaged 53,294 spectators this year.
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